CHAPTER XXIII. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ARTICLE 138 Attendance at meetings of the permanent organs of the Organization of American States or at the conferences and meetings provided for in the Charter, or held under the auspices of the Organization, shall be in accordance with the multilateral character of the aforesaid organs, conferences, and meetings and shall not depend on the bilateral relations between the Government of any Member State and the Government of the host country. ARTICLE 139 The Organization of American States shall enjoy in the territory of each Member such legal capacity, privileges, and immunities as are necessary for the exercise of its functions and the accomplishment of its purposes. ARTICLE 140 The representatives of the Member States on the organs of the Organization, the personnel of their delegations, as well as the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General shall enjoy the privileges and immunities corresponding to their positions and necessary for the independent performance of their duties. ARTICLE 141 The juridical status of the Specialized Organization and the privileges and immunities that should be granted to them and to their personnel, as well as to the officials of the General Secretariat, shall be determined in a multilateral agreement, The foregoing shall not preclude, when it is considered necessary, the concluding of bilateral agreements. ARTICLE 142 Correspondence of the Organization of American States, including printed matter and parcels, bearing the frank thereof, shall be carried free of charge in the mails of the Member States. ARTICLE 143 The Organization of American States does not allow any restriction based, on race, creed, or sex, with respect to eligibility to participate in the activities of the Organization and to hold positions therein. CHAPTER XXIV. RATIFICATION AND ENTRY INTO FORCE ARTICLE 144 The present Charter shall remain open for signature by the American States and shall be ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. The original instrument, the Spanish, English, Portuguese and French texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Pan American Union, which shall transmit certified copies thereof to the Governments for purposes of ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Pan American Union, which shall notify the signatory States of such deposit. ARTICLE 145 The present Charter shall enter into force among their ratifying States when two-thirds of the signatory States have deposited their ratifications. It shall enter into force with respect to the remaining States in the order in which they deposit their ratifications. ARTICLE 146 The present Charter shall be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations through the General Secretariat. ARTICLE 147 Amendments to the present Charter may be adopted only at a General Assembly convened for that purpose. Amendments shall enter into force in accordance with the terms and the procedure set forth in Article 145. ARTICLE 148 The present Charter shall remain in force indefinitely, but may be denounced by any Member State upon written notification to the General Secretariat, which shall communicate to all the others each notice of denunciation received. After two years from the date on which the General Secretariat receives a notice of denunciation, the present Charter shall cease to be in force with respect to the denouncing State, which shall cease to belong to the Organization after it has fulfilled the obligations arising from the present Charter. CHAPTER XXV. TRANSITORY PROVISIONS ARTICLE 149 The Inter-American Committee on the Alliance for Progress shall act as the permanent executive committee of the Inter-American Economic and Social Council as long as the Alliance is in operation. ARTICLE 150 Until the Inter-American convention on human rights, referred to in Chapter XVIII, enters into force, the present Inter-American Commission on Human Rights shall keep vigilance over the observance of human rights. RESERVATIONS MADE AT THE TIME OF RATIFICATION NOTE.-The_original Charter was signed April 30, 1948, for the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States of America, Uruguay, and Venezuela and the following reservations were made at the time of ratifying: Guatemala None of the stipulations of the present Charter of the Organization of American States may be considered as an impediment to Guatemala's assertion of its rights over the territory of Belize by such means as at any time it may deem advisable." Peru With the reservation that the principles of inter-American solidarity and cooperation and essentially those set forth in the preamble and declarations of the Act of Chapultepec constitute standards for the mutual relations between the American States and juridical bases of the inter-American system. United States That the Senate give its advice and consent to ratification of the Charter with the reservation that none of its provisions shall be considered as enlarging the powers of the Federal Government of the United States or limiting the powers of the several states of the Federal Union with respect to any matters recognized under the Constitution as being within the reserved powers of the several states. 1 The present Government in Cuba is excluded from participation in the inter-American system by Resolution VI of the 8th Meeting of the Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Punta del Este, Uruguay, January 22-31, 1962. 2 With respect to this reservation, the Pan American Union consulted the signatory governments, in accordance with the procedure established by paragraph 2 of Resolution XXIX of the Eighth International Conference of American States, to ascertain whether they found it acceptable or not. At the request of the Government of Guatemala, this consultation was accompanied by a formal declaration of that Government to the effect that its reservation did not imply any alteration in the Charter of the Organization of American States, and that Guatemala is ready to act at all times within the bounds of international agreements to which it is a party. In view of this declaration, the States that previously did not find the reservation acceptable expressed their acceptance. STATUS OF THE CHARTER OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES Signed at Bogotá, April 30, 1948, at the Ninth International Conference of American States 1 The present Government in Cuba is excluded from participation in the inter-American system by Resolution VI of the 8th Meeting of the Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Punta del Este, Uruguay, January 22-31, 1962. 2 With respect to this reservation, the Pan American Union consulted the signatory governments, in accordance with the procedure established by paragraph 2 of Resolution XXIX of the Eighth International Conference of American States, to ascertain whether they found it acceptable or not. At the request of the Government of Guatemala, this consultation was accompanied by a formal declaration of that Government to the effect that its reservation did not imply any alteration in the Charter of the Organization of American States, and that Guatemala is ready to act at all times within the bounds of international agreements to which it is a party. In view of this declaration, the States that previously did not find the reservation acceptable expressed their acceptance. 3 With a reservation. NOTE.-The Charter entered into effect December 13, 1951, when the 14th ratification was deposited by Colombia. It was registered with the General Secretariat of the United Nations on January 16, 1952. C. PROTOCOL OF AMENDMENT TO THE CHARTER OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES1 (PROTOCOL OF BUENOS AIRES) The Member States of the Organization of American States, represented at the Third Special Inter-American Conference, CONSIDERING: That the Charter of the Organization of American States signed at Bogotá in 1948, set forth the purpose of achieving an order of peace and justice, promoting solidarity among the American States, strengthening their collaboration and defending their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence; That the Second Special Inter-American Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1965, declared that it was essential to forge a new dynamism for the inter-American system and imperative to modify the working structure of the Organization of American States, as well as to establish in the Charter new objectives and standards for the promotion of the economic, social, and cultural development of the peoples of the Hemisphere, and to speed up the process of economic integration; and That it is essential to reaffirm the determination of the American States to combine their efforts in a spirit of solidarity in the permanent task of achieving the general conditions of well-being that will ensure a life of dignity and freedom to their peoples, HAVE AGREED UPON THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE XXIV The terms "General Assembly", "Permanent Council of the Organization" or "Permanent Council", and "General Secretariat", shall be substituted, as the case may be, for the terms "Inter-American Conference", "Council of the Organization" or "Council", and "Pan American Union", wherever the latter terms appear in those Articles of the Charter that have not been eliminated or specifically amended by the present Protocol. In the English text of such articles the terms of "Hemisphere" and "hemispheric" shall be substituted for "continent" and "continental". ARTICLE XXV The present Protocol shall remain open for signature by the American States and shall be ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. The original instrument, the Spanish, 1 The Protocol entered into force on February 27, 1970, as provided in Article XXVI, after the deposit of their ratifications by Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. |